Former India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has questioned Rishabh Pant’s shot selection and decision-making during the recent Test series against Sri Lanka.
Pant, backed by the Indian team management for the two-Test series, finished with 168 runs, including two half-centuries. However, his aggressive approach continued to draw scrutiny, with Ashwin arguing that Pant’s natural attacking game cannot come at the expense of situation-based decision-making.
“My expectation from Rishabh Pant hasn’t been fulfilled till now. I am very sorry. Sonal Dinusha had his strike rate up there. But the difference is high-risk options. When you have the game in your hand, these are all statements: ‘That’s how Rishabh plays.’ It is about what your team needs,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel Ash Ki Baat.
Ashwin, who retired from international cricket last year, stressed that Test matches can turn on a single poor decision, particularly at crucial moments.
“Rishabh played a class knock in Sydney and Brisbane, but you couldn’t have won that match without Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur. It takes 11 cricketers to build a Test and win it in the last session of the game, but it takes only one moment of foolishness to lose a Test,” he said.
The former off-spinner also rejected comparisons between Pant and India great Virender Sehwag and Australia’s Adam Gilchrist, both renowned for their attacking Test cricket.
“Sehwag and Gilchrist played high-flying brand of cricket, but these two don’t get edged out while dancing down to Marco Jansen when your team is trailing by 500 runs. Don’t place these marketing lines in front of me ever again.”
Ashwin further pushed back against the idea that Pant deserves special backing because he is a “once-in-a-generation” player, pointing to Yashasvi Jaiswal as another young Indian batter who deserves similar faith.
“All I’m saying, Rishabh, is that he is experienced; he has played [more than] 50 Tests. He needs to take responsibility,” Ashwin said.
“I love Rishabh the player,” Ashwin added, but insisted Pant must learn when to attack and when the situation demands restraint.
Published on Aug 28, 2026
